I have to admit, when I first moved to Houston, I was intimidated.
I grew up in a small tourist town in Northern Arizona whose non-seasonal population was around 7500 at the time (I have heard that it’s since gone down from that!). Everyone knew everyone and everyone knew everyone’s business. I grew up with boys and girls from pre-school to high school and many of them were in my classes throughout my entire schooling. My father was on the fire department and so I had 30 extra dads to keep an eye out for me (and I still managed to get into trouble!). We had 3 stop lights and one of the most exciting things I remember was that we got a Wal-Mart (albeit, a Wal-Mart that obviously got all the leftovers from all the other Wal-Marts, but hey, beggers can’t be choosers. All I can say is thank goodness for Target!!). We were limited to restaurants and they came and went throughout the 17 years that I lived there. When I became a teen, I couldn’t wait to get out of that place. It was a great place to raise kids, don’t get me wrong, but there was just nothing for you there if you had bigger and better aspirations than working at the local Wal-Mart.
So, when I moved here when I was 19, yeah, I was intimidated. Intimidated with the big bad freeways (and learning to use that little Texas U-turn!), with the cowboys, with not knowing a single soul (I later found out that my great aunt and cousins live here! yay for family!). I went straight to work and back and stayed home and didn’t drive as much as possible. A few years later, my husband and I bought our first home. I fell in love with my neighbors (some of who’ve moved on and some who are still here) and started getting involved a bit more with mommy groups and other social activities.
I’m happy to say that while I love the idea of moving to different places (I think that is the exploring nature in me) and experiencing new towns and cities, Houston doesn’t intimidate me any longer. And right now, I can’t imagine living anywhere but Cypress. I have made great friends here, have a wonderful new home church and have the best clients ever.
Ok, so this is a long walk down memory lane, yeah? The point of all of this is that I have been blessed to find such wonderful people here in Cypress that are willing to give and give BIG. People open their hearts for others and want to be a part of the love of giving. Here are a few events coming up where people are raising funds to support local families and their causes. If you are in this area, please consider stopping by one of these events to help raise awareness for these causes!
And my own personal project,
http://www.PartyForLayla.com
This is an amazing opportunity. 10 + photographers giving their time and talent to raise awareness and funds for the Layla Grace Foundation.
This event is scheduled for April 18th (next Sunday!!) so if you’re interested, contact info@partyforlayla.com
